From the depths of depression and despair to the inspiring last chapter, A Year and a Half Later, this is a journey you won't want to miss. The road through devastation, anger and soul searching leads to a place of peace, where the author acknowledges that her smile is a gift from God and vows to let that smile be a testimony to others who have suffered loss.

Excerpt The sky was a beautiful dark blue and perfectly clear, not a cloud in sight. A few scattered stars dotted the heavens, but none around the moon. It hung boldly alone in the sky, almost full, not quite, and it stood out like silver against the dark blue sky, so clearly that the craters on it seemed to be raised.

“It looks like a quarter falling from God’s pocket,” Stephen said and I thought it was the most profound thing I had ever heard.

Using the metaphor of a raft, she describes the special people in her life as giving her yet another board to add to it…..By the final chapter of the book, A Year and a Half Later, Mrs. Carter found she had built her raft of survival.

-Cherokee Tribune, April 2, 2000

Incredible Loss

The author’s loss is so incredibly described that the reader finds it difficult not to stop and say a silent prayer….Some family acquaintances made the comment Stephen died as God’s punishment for Marcia Carter divorcing her husband! What callousness!….it was not an easy book to write. It is emotional and caring. Perhaps every teenage driver should be required to read this book.

-Lakeside Ledger, August 31, 2000

Life-Altering Tragedy

The book, Carter hopes, can help others get through a life-altering tragedy, but it has also helped her get through hers. Many bereaved parents feel the need to reach out to others. I think because we have survived what we thought was an impossible thing to survive, we want to share that hope. I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the book. Lots of letters from women who lost their children.

I think "A quarter falling from God's pocket" is an extraordinary thing for a boy that age to say. He was a poet, even if he
didn't known it. :) I think you would like my poem, "A Portal To Glory", if you have time to look at it.

Reviewed by Kathie Kelly

4/24/2001

This book was wonderfully written. I am glad that Marcia was
able to write her experiences and feelings to help others
like me deal with our pain of loosing a child. I lost my
child May 10, 1998 and I can't explain the pain, but having
someone out there to share helps to know that I am not alone
and there is someone who cares and understands.

I give her a lot of praise for all she has been through and
how she turned it into a positive instead of a negative. I
too made the death of my son into a positive helping others
dealing with the same loss. I am the Outreach Coordinator for
The Compassionate Friends, Fredericksburg, VA Chapter. With
out TCF and people like Marcia, I wouldn't have made it as
far as I have.